Shades of the Wolf

“Right.” He did exactly as she said, for maybe ten seconds. And then he materialized inside the station, waiting for her by the battle-scarred counter of the front desk as she walked in.

The dirty look she gave him made him smile.

“Anabel Lee.” The frizzy-haired woman behind the counter sounded less than thrilled. “What do you want?”

To her credit, Anabel didn’t react to the overt hostility in the receptionist’s tone. “I’d like to see Captain Harper, please.”

The other woman, whose name tag read Brenda Winder, appeared unmoved, squinting at Anabel through thick glasses. “Of course you would. Why don’t you tell me what it is you need, and I’ll see if I can find someone to help you? Since I am, you know, the dispatcher. That’s what we do.” Her unkind smile had Tyler clenching his fists.

He glanced at Anabel, to see what she would do. To his surprise, she’d assumed a deferential posture. “I’d prefer to discuss it with him, thanks.”

Pursing her mouth, the other woman glared at her. “Have a seat. I’ll let him know you’re here.”

Without commenting, Anabel found a metal folding chair and lowered herself into it.

Enraged, he went to her. “What was that? Why do you let that person talk to you that way?”

Her sigh sounded more weary than exasperated. She kept her voice down, since to anyone else it would appear she was carrying on a one-sided conversation with herself. “I tried to tell you. Most of the people around this town consider me crazy, an unwelcome nuisance at best. No one in Leaning Tree wants to have anything to do with me, never mind talk to me.”

“Because of your power?”

She moved her hand in a chopping motion. “Enough about the power. I don’t have any, so stop pretending I do.”

Before he could respond, Anabel looked up. Her entire body stiffened. “Now look what you made me do,” she hissed, her porcelain skin turning tomato red.

Brenda Winder stood back behind the desk, staring at Anabel with a horrified and smug expression on her meaty face. “Talking to yourself again?” she drawled. “Crazy is as crazy does.”

Stone-faced, Anabel kept staring straight ahead and didn’t bother to reply. Finally, Brenda tired of tormenting someone who wouldn’t respond and went back to reading something on her computer.

A few minutes later, a stocky man with wide shoulders and an even wider belly stomped into the room. His bushy gray eyebrows lowered in a frown, and he eyed Anabel as if he expected her to present him with something disgusting and distasteful. “You wanted to talk to me?” he asked, sounding anything but accommodating.

“I did.” Smiling, Anabel got to her feet gracefully. “Good to see you, Captain Harper. Could we please talk in your office?”

“Out here will do just fine.”

“No.” Anabel straightened her shoulders, her smile fading and her gaze direct. “It won’t. I need a little privacy, please.”

The captain sighed, stopping just short of rolling his eyes. “Sure. Why not? Come on back. I’m sure you know the way.”

Another puzzle. Resolving to try to find out from Anabel what all this meant, Tyler glided along after them as they walked through the crowded open area buzzing with activity. They passed several uniformed officers, a few criminals or complainants, and not a single person acknowledged or greeted Anabel. She made a beeline toward a small office in the back corner.

Most of the police officers were busy, which might excuse them. Some were on the phone, others talking to people sitting in their desk chairs. Suspects? Tyler looked for handcuffs, noting two people at opposite ends of the room who wore them.

Despite that, the instant they realized who had just walked into the room, every single person stopped what he or she was doing and stared.

Tyler would have liked to believe this was due respect for her power, but some of the officers seemed disgusted. A few others exchanged glances with their coworkers, even going so far as to shake their heads or roll their eyes.

Not respect, then. Eyeing Anabel’s slender form as she marched across the room, head held high, ignoring them all, for the first time he wondered what her story might be.

Truth be told, until now he hadn’t wondered about her story. He’d gone to her simply because he’d heard she could see and hear him and she’d radiated amazingly great power. They’d come to an arrangement. He’d help her get what she wanted if she’d help him save his baby sister.

End of story. Except it wasn’t.

Even though he’d been a shape-shifter, able to change into a ferocious wolf, wizards, warlocks and witches generally creeped him out. Any shifter with a lick of sense tended to avoid magical beings, since they were powerless against them. Even the vampires were careful to avoid them.

But now one had Dena. And if Tyler wanted to save her, he had no choice but to take on a warlock. At least he had a powerful witch at his side.

Once again he eyed Anabel, who’d finally reached the captain’s office and had taken a seat, crossing her gorgeous long legs and tilting her head as she waited for the captain to work himself down into his own chair and work his enormous stomach behind his desk.

Finally, he grunted and got himself settled. “All right, Anabel. Since Lilly and all the rest of the McGraws refused to press charges against you, I’m guessing you haven’t come here to talk about any of that.”

Anabel shook her head rapidly, sending her long, dark hair whipping around her face. Tyler caught himself aching to wrap a strand of it around his finger and pull her to him.

“Of course not,” she said. “That’s history. They’ve moved forward, as have I.”

“Then what can I do for you?”

She took a deep breath, her jaw tightening. “A friend of David’s wrote me from Afghanistan. He wanted me to check on his sister. She lives here in Leaning Tree. According to him, she’s gone missing.”

Brilliant. Tyler wanted to hug her. He restrained himself, not wanting to startle her. Besides, without a corporeal body, she wouldn’t be able to feel it.

“Really?” The captain’s gaze sharpened. “What’s her name?”

“Dena Rogers,” Anabel answered. “Her brother, Tyler, is really worried.”

“Let me see what I can find out.” Using his computer, Captain Harper tapped in some information. “Ah, yes. Here we are. Two weeks ago one of her coworkers asked us to do a welfare check when Ms. Rogers didn’t show up for her shift at the junior-college cafeteria. We checked but found nothing. Her house was empty, but there were no signs she’d met with foul play or anything. My officer determined she must have left willingly.”

“I don’t think so—” Anabel began.

“Ms. Lee.” Speaking sternly, Captain Harper interrupted. “It’s entirely possible she went on vacation.”

“Not without telling her brother,” Anabel shot back, her spine straight. “That’s why he got in touch with me.”

“I see.” Steepling his fingers, the older man sighed. “Then why don’t you tell me what it is you want me to do?”

“Find out what happened to her. Her brother told me she’d been talking about several other missing girls. Has anyone in your office put together information linking them?”

To give him credit, Captain Harper’s expression remained unchanged. Except for his eyes. Those appeared about to bug out of his head. “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”

“That’s sad.”

The captain narrowed his eyes but didn’t respond.

“I would appreciate it if you would look into it,” Anabel continued with a quiet dignity. “As soon as possible. It’s not enough that Tyler Rogers is over there serving our country. I don’t want him worrying needlessly about his sister.”

“I’m sure there’s no need to worry. She’ll turn up eventually. Young people frequently disappear on some crazy adventure.”

The man’s patronizing tone set Tyler’s teeth on edge. “If you won’t at least do your job—” Anabel stood, the movement graceful “—I’m going to have to investigate on my own.”